Bobby back on the block

I did a blog on this a while back, and not really surprisingly we are back here again. Bobby Ryan is available for the right price from the Ducks to add to a list that includes Rick Nash, Roberto Luongo, Jay Bouwmeester and Lubomir Visnovsky of players who are on the block and could be moved by Sunday night.

Some people may wonder why Ryan the Ducks are making a 25 year old, 30 goal scoring, power forward, with 2 years left on his affordable contract available? Well there are many reasons. First, the Ducks aren’t a cap ceiling team. They are working with a limited budget and they will need all the money they can get to get both Getzlaf and Perry locked up before next summer.

Another good reason to do it is to bolster their defense. They will lose Justin Schultz who was the team’s top prospect, and past Schultz. Now past Fowler and Sbisa this team is extremely thin on the blueline. Ryan would bring back at least 2 young D-men in a trade (perhaps 1 in the NHL and 1 prospect). Also, moving his 5.1 mil per year gives them some money (at least for this season) to bring in a UFA D-man.

And finally they could find a guy to fill in his spot. Not someone as good, but that line is one of the best in hockey and quite frankly will likely still be without Ryan and the right guy replacing him. For example, the original man on the left side of Getzlaf and Perry. He’s known as pancakes. He makes Simpsons references in interviews. He rocks a better beard than his grandpa Fred…I’m talking about Dustin Penner (talk about suspense!) Or they could draft someone who could step in, perhaps Filip Forsberg should he fall that far, or Teuvo Teravainen who some scouts believe may pan out as good or better than Nail Yakupov.

As for where Ryan could end up now is anybody’s guess I’m sure. Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Minnesota, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver are all candidates in my mind to jump in this derby (watch him now go toWinnipeg or Phoenix). The thing I THINK I’m safe in saying is that it will be a 3 or 4 piece deal that the Ducks are looking for again because this is a team that can’t take on a lot of salary. A good young roster player, one high end prospect, one middle of the road prospect and perhaps a draft pick (depends on who the other players are).

If you ask me this is a shrewd move by Bob Murray if he can get the right deal. You get GM’s like a David Poile for example who want to hang on to their guys until the potential problem becomes a total mess for the franchise much like Ryan Suter now is. They will likely watch Suter walk without getting a thing back for him this summer and I wouldn’t be shocked if Weber followed him out the door next summer. If Murray wants to keep Getzlaf and Perry he knows moving Ryan is the right move. It must be a difficult thing to do trading a kid that talented who is just entering his prime, but it’s could be the right move.